CHAPTER 186
When Bill and Gary turned to exit the pool they saw that Jigsaw had swaggered closer to where they were. The juvenile rex gave them a deranged cockeyed stare as drool poured from between her lower teeth. It was not a salivation of hunger though. The tyrannosaur was disoriented beyond control of its own mouth. Taking another few blunders toward Bill and Gary the young rex opened her mouth and a growl issued from deep within her bowels. A moment later she heaved and regurgitated what seemed to be several gallons worth of vomit.
Gary and Bill recoiled as it splashed around their ankles. The rex teetered for a moment and then collapsed in a puddle of her own puke.
Gary shook off his feet and looked at Jigsaw with curiosity. "She's got a concussion."
Bill was staring in awe at the massive volume of throw up before him and the contents within it. "Are those bone shards?" He pinched his nose as the stench wafted at him.
Gary pulled his eyes away from Jigsaw. He had a bizarre inclination to be concerned for the well being of the beast despite his current situation of life threatening peril, but he knew there was nothing he could or should stop and do for her. Blindly slapping Bill on the arm he said, "let's go."
"Yeah," Bill nodded.
They walked back to the other side of the Jeep and viewed the cliff face.
Pointing to the right Gary said, "if we follow the ridge toward the airstrip it should taper off, and then we can get back to the road."
Bill nodded and they both started to walk.
"Hey, Gary?"
"Yeah?"
"What happened to the velociraptors?"
A twisting feeling went through Gary's core. He had forgotten all about the three raptors that had been scaling the cliff face. His head circled around the jungle. He didn't see them. Then he looked up. It was in just enough time to see a deadly figure dive from the thick branch above.
Gary did not have time to warn Bill. He tackled him, and they both fell out of the way.
Hearing a creature land in the dirt with aggressive force they both turned to look. The male velociraptor was crouched in a failed pounce. He growled and straightened himself up. The two females then appeared from the jungle foliage, and there was another with them.
Tomahawk stomped out of the greenery, giving a deep belly growl that put the other raptors to shame. The utahraptor towered over Gary and snatched his ankles, pulling him beneath her. Her heavy hind foot stepped on his belly and she reared her killing talon.
The two female velociraptors had Bill pinned and were ready to maul him to pieces when a loud belch flooded the air. Tomahawk and the rest of the pack turned to find that Jigsaw was back on her feet and stumbling toward them.
The male velociraptor ran up and started barking at the young tyrannosaur. Jigsaw gave him a drunk look and threw up all over him.
The male raptor almost looked embarrassed. Shrinking away he shook like a wet dog and trilled pitifully while wiping his face in a fern bed.
The rest of the pack engaged Jigsaw with anger. Incidentally the other two tyrannosaurs were beginning to stir.
Laser kicked and clanged at the roll bar of the Jeep. She twisted and bellowed until she tumbled over the hood and onto the ground.
Flash sloshed out of the shallow pool shaking the wetness off of her as she tromped forward.
Tomahawk roared and growled at the rexes, and they both bellowed back.
Gary and Bill exchanged glances. Neither one of them could tell if this new development was making matters better or worse for them.
As Tomahawk roared at the tyrannosaurs she pressed her foot further into Gary's belly, and he felt like his guts were going to burst like a water balloon.
The two female velociraptors dug their fore claws at Bill, and they kicked their feet while bearing sharp teeth at the rexes. The male velociraptor, still dripping with vomit, shook his feathers dry, collected his dignity, and rejoined the conflict.
Though Jigsaw had wandered aside in a stupor Laser and Flash advanced on the raptors.
This made Tomahawk all the angrier, and she flared her comb of feathers with an even louder bellow.
The young tyrannosaurs did not look like they were going to back down, and it appeared that another carnivore battle was about to ensue.